


Of Witch Hunts And Daemon Contracts

by Soraxus



Series: EXODUS [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Chanyeol is a demon, Demon Deals, I think there is a total of 2 swearwords, Kris is a native american god, Kyungsoo is 19, Kyungsoo is ready to loose everything he knows, Kyungsoo's situation is kind of unfair, M/M, Magic, Park Chanyeol is Whipped, Witch Hunts, Witches, Wu Yi Fan | Kris is Whipped, a witch medic, and Kris and Chanyeol are both made out of fire, backstory for the main story, but does he really, he just really likes warmth okay, he's also a martyr, kyungsoo doesn't know how crushes work, kyungsoo is a witch, so theyre warm a lot, twice honestly, which will come i promise, you would think Kyungsoo has a warmth kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-04 21:21:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20477657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soraxus/pseuds/Soraxus
Summary: Kyungsoo hadn't expected to see a dragon snake like being to fall out of the sky. He hadn't expected to find a friend in the mess that is his life. But least of all, he hadn't expected to be ready to be the martyr of his kind out of free will, after years of resisting being a martyr in the first place.





	1. A Drop In The Hands Lake

**Author's Note:**

> This is the prequel to HOME.

This was not how he had planned his day to go, Kyungsoo thinks as he manages to break above the water, the heavy body of something not human doing it's best to drag him down again. Struggling, his feet finally find purchase on the lakeside. Slinging the snakelike body over his way smaller frame, he works against the current trying to reel him back in.

This better be worth it.

He wonders how he got into this situation as he inspects the scales of the creature, black turning into a mix of metallic greens and reds as they glitter in the sun. While Kyungsoo was well served in the ways of human and creature medical ways, as is his duty, he was unsure how to proceed. Should he try to use his knowledge unknown how it would react to a foreign being or risk letting the wounds fester and get infected.

Choosing the former, he places his hands gently beside the wounds, not reacting to slight twitching as he focuses on the world around him. Letting the magic of the trees fill his veins, finding the molecules of the skin and beginning to reconnected bit by bit from the inside out.

What could've been minutes turned into hours, days, years as he lost his connection from time, just flying through nature within his skin, his hands flowing over the scales, which were smooth until they roughened out.

That made him all the more curious at the humanoid very much naked man that was sitting in front of him as he came back to the present, wounds on his body healing rapidly into scars as the other stared at him.

"Hi?" Kyungsoo offers, unsure of how to continue, readily looking at the brightly blonde bordering white hair. Assuming the other doesn't know the human language, he points at the scars on his shoulder, hoping the creature will understand. He lets out a relieved sigh when the other nods slightly and moves back closer to him from where he had backed away prodding and inspecting the wound, aware the other's gaze hasn't torn away from his face for even a second.

Moving back as he grew flustered, shoulders raised as he shies away. "It looks like the wounds are healing just fine. I don't know what you are or what caused the wounds but my magic didn't interfere with any existing mechanism inside of you nor did it made the wounds disappear, it just accelerated the pr-"

"Thank you." The creature says, voice steady, even though he has a slight accent. Guess he did know the language then, Kyungsoo muses as the creature keeps himself aware of him as he starts to inspect his wounds.

"I'm Kyungsoo. You dropped from the sky into the Hands Lake," Kyungsoo motions to the large body of water behind him. "Affectively named after the feeling of hands dragging you down when you're inside of it. I fished you out and mended your wounds." He stops as the other stands, even way taller than Kyungsoo in his human form as he was in his snakelike body. "Are you a demon?"

The other snorts. "I can understand why you'd think that but no. I'm Kris." He didn't elaborate, making Kyungsoo pout in his mind. "Where am I?"

"You're in Germany, Dischingen. This forest is a home for me and my coven."

Kris seems to focus back on the smaller male. "So you're a witch? I've only met one of you and she's dead..."

"Is that a threat?" Kyungsoo questions the still very naked male, suddenly rigid.

"What?" The blonde blinks slowly. "No, they were burned in the witch hunt in Nördlingen, I was too late to save her."

Kyungsoo stares at Kris, not thinking about the statement except, "Witch hunts?"

Kris frowns. "Do you not know what goes on outside your forest, little human?"

"First of all, I'm not little, you're just freakishly tall. Second of all, no. We live separate from non-witches because we're scared they will befall accidental harm by our witchcraft, never mind the things that could happen if our research, potions or magic finds a way into their hands. They wouldn't know what to do with it after all, and that's more dangerous than anything. Third of all," Kyungsoo hurries when he saw Kris wanting to speak, "You are still naked and I should get on my way back before they send out a search party for me." That makes the other pause in his frowning.

"Are you not allowed to go where you wish to be?"

Kyungsoo snorts. "As the next head of the coven, I ought to be within the coven at any time, not interacting with reality and nature around me as they are a mere distraction, and proceed to protect the coven as is my duty." He states, copying his mentors. "I'm not allowed to be in contact with anything from the outside. Which you most definitely are. So if they were to send out a search party and they find you, they will do everything in their power to kill you. Seeing as I just spend a lot of time and magic to heal your wounds, that seems to rather counteract my efforts."

"Yet I have nowhere to go." From what Kyungsoo has seen of the male, he was a very serious person. Or creature, whatever he was. And although Kyungsoo would love to say 'not my problem' he also can't seem to stop himself from wanting to help this total stranger.

"Then stay in the forest." He says instead, walking towards the path that leads home and away from the male. "Hide, clean up, find shelter, hunt. I don't care, as long as you don't disrupt the normal order of things or show yourself to the clan, you should be safe here."

"And will I see you again?"

Looking back over his shoulder, he sees nothing to disagree. "I should be back in at least a week. If I sneak out too frequently, they will tighten their watch over me, and that's not something we want if you're planning on staying. Don't worry about being confined to this lake, as long as you're within this forest I will be able to know where you are." Receiving a nod from the creature, Kyungsoo leaves.


	2. Warm Strangers And Sleepless Nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He knew he should be flinching back, burned, but instead it spread like a warm blanket and Kyungsoo suddenly knew it was going to be just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I completed writing this fic, the next chapters will be updated on 18/9, 21/9 and 24/9.

It had been over a week since he left Kris in the woods, and Kyungsoo slightly curses his coven. When he came back, the elders had been looking all over for him, the meeting the had been having, the one that allowed Kyungsoo to sneak out in the first place, paused in favour of looking for him. Luckily the squad send out to find him walked straight into him, so at least they didn’t find the other back then. And Kyungsoo knows he’s still there, out in the woods. Although Kris had relocated himself, away from the lake, Kyungsoo could feel he had stayed in the same place at day since then, only roaming around at night. Resting, probably. The strain of his wounds should be still there, even if Kyungsoo did manage to accelerate the healing progress. 

Kyungsoo sighs as he lets himself fall back on his bed. He could feel the guards walking around the garden, so he couldn’t get out through his window, and even though he couldn’t feel them he knew there were guards outside his door too. He could feel that one couple sneaking out, and he jealously huffs out that. Why would they need to sneak out when they’re free to do so even when the darkness of night doesn’t cover for them. 

Sometimes he wonders what his life would be like if he hadn’t been blessed by the earth. At least, the elders called it blessed, but it seemed more like he was cursed, in Kyungsoo’s opinion. If he hadn’t been touched, would he still be the heir? Kyungsoo likes to think he wasn’t, but he’d be free, like his brother, like his family, like the rest of the coven. They had their duties, sure, but it wasn’t life led by rules and restrictions, only allowed to give but never to take. Give his freedom, give his being, give his life. Never allowed to walk around the forest freely, to fall in love, to have a family. And the worst of it was that it wasn’t by choice. He was a prisoner kept jailed by people he loved and cared for, and will now have to give his life for. And he will, he knows he will, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t rebel at rules he thought ridiculous. He felt everything in the forest, he knew it inside out even before he stepped a foot in there, why wasn’t he allowed to walk around? It wasn’t even if it was demon-infected, because then he could understand, but it wasn’t, just a regular forest, enchanted to keep strangers out. 

But that brings him back to Kris. Kris was a stranger, and he most definitely wasn’t kept out. The enchantment is within the border, so it shouldn’t even be possible to fly over it. So that really begs the question of how did Kris fly over it? Not even just fly over it, but even land in it. Although he didn’t really land, he fell. Straight down into the lake that most people didn’t make it out of. So maybe the enchantment faltered but tried making up by dropping him into almost certain death. Certain death if Kyungsoo hadn’t been there. 

When he had first returned, he had immediately gone to the library after he got scolded his ears off. He read every book he could find about the enchantments, if they could falter, if being a stranger, an outsider, really was the only characteristic you should have to be refused access. But he found nothing, it had shaken him to the bone. Why was there no information about the enchantments? Not just that, over the days he had searched for creatures, for witch hunts, and again he found nothing. He didn’t dare to ask anyone within the coven for possible information, because that would blow his cover. They would want to know where he could’ve possible heard this, even if they didn’t know what he was talking about, and that wouldn’t do.

He could feel Kris walking around at this point, touching trees, maybe to mark them and find his way back, but Kyungsoo couldn’t feel anything harming nature. Even as he walked around, his steps were careful, avoiding flowers and plants, not even disturbing the deers Kyungsoo knew he just passed. Kyungsoo admits that he might be stalking the creature. At first, it was simply cation, afraid he let something harmful to the coven live, but as nights passed, he could admit that that cation had withered down to curiosity. When he found him, battered and bruised and wounded, he had been so certain that he had encountered a hard-worn warrior. So much blood he had lost and how much he had taken. And honestly, Kyungsoo was certain of that still, but he also knew that this respect and honour for nature, for life, was inside of him as well. He hadn’t done anything to make him uncomfortable even when he was confused about where he was, to what had happened. And the longer Kyungsoo felt him in the forest, the more he wanted to go out and meet him again. But he couldn’t, not without bringing Kris in potential danger. Not without bringing risk to his chance to get more information about outside reality. About those witch hunts Kris had mentioned, about what Kris really was, about how he got inside the enchantments. 

He might also be interested in knowing Kris. Whoever he would be. Why was he wounded? What kind of friends does he have, and why does he have nowhere to go? Doesn’t he have a home, a family? Where did he come from, was he free to go where he wanted to go? Kyungsoo was intrigued. He might never be free, but he wanted to know what freedom looked like. Wanted to hear a small taste of it, if only in passing. Until then, he’d have to do it with feeling him from his bedroom. 

He was scared though, scared that Kris would leave. He had told the other that he’d be back within a week after all, and he wasn’t. Couldn’t leave now either. He was sure he’d have to do it during the day, but between all his training and studies, he hadn’t managed to slip out yet. But Kris didn’t know. He just knows that Kyungsoo hadn’t been back, and is probably waiting on him. How long would he allow himself to wait before moving on. It was this unadulterated fear under his skin that he’d be left behind, be forgotten by the creature, and that scared him about just as much as the fear itself. He didn’t want to be forgotten. He didn’t want this, whatever this was, to slip through his fingers. He knew if it did, he’d regret it for the rest of his life. 

In the sudden bout of panic slipping in through his chest, he almost didn’t notice Kris tripping. But he did. And if it hadn’t been for the fact he knew how Kris walked, careful and attentive, he would be so surprised to it. But he was, and it brought him out of his panic to focus on Kris instead. It seemed as if there was something wrapped around his ankle. It felt like… roots? Now Kyungsoo was really looking, he was certain it were roots, and he could feel his own magic running through them. Did his need to keep Kris here activate his magic and move the roots? He did it before, manipulating nature to do what he wanted it to do, but never from this distance. He had to touch what he was manipulating, and seeing as Kris was half a forest away, he most certainly wasn’t touching it. In fact, Kris was in a part of the forest Kyungsoo had never been at, for it was too far away for him and the walk was too long if he didn’t want the coven to find out.  
Not just that, he hadn’t even tried to make them move, so he would’ve done it unconsciously, and that hadn’t happened before. He shivers as he felt Kris’ fingers moving against the wood, also gliding smoothly over his magic. His magic reached out to touch the other, and he could feel the same warmth he had felt when he poured his magic inside the wounds. If he hadn’t looked like a gigantic snake, Kyungsoo would’ve thought he was a dragon, the warmth was scorching hot, and while it didn’t burn, Kyungsoo had a feeling it should. Instead, it felt soothing, like the other was trying to calm and comfort him. He could feel that Kris was actively reacting to the magic, but not physically. He didn’t have magic, but he had something else, something which felt sentient, and it was interacting with his magic, feeling it, and he just knew Kris knew it was him. 

His body felt warm, and he was melting against his bed, his sheets spread around and on him, and he felt safe. Reassured. Happy even, and as Kyungsoo closed his eyes, he thought about how this stranger made him feel more than his coven ever did.


	3. Prayers to the God

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world around Kyungsoo keeps turning, even though the reality he knew appeared to be nothing but a lie and soon to be turned around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An update! I feel like I'm more enthousiast about updating then people are to read it, so I hope you enjoy it! Nothing much happens in this chapter, but the next one is funnier, I swear. The chapters for this are all smaller than 2k but I still hope you can enjoy it.  
Also, I'm trying to rewrite HOME because I feel like I rushed writing it and it makes it less interesting to be read, so I'm trying. It might just be tiny shifts, but thats mostly because I wrote out the complete idea I and some small things changed plotwise, but nothing that should change the first few chapters.

‘Finally’, Kyungsoo thinks as he makes his way through the trees, breathing in the clean air around him. It’s the first time he has been in the forest in 3 weeks, and he had missed this so much. The energy of nature leaves him tingly, trees brushing their branches against his arms while cold October air blew softly against his cheeks. He quickly navigates himself through the forest to where his magic located Kris, and he pulsates it to let him knew he was close. Feeling a rush of warmth, he smiles at the by now familiar feeling. He was more excited than he dared to admit at seeing Kris again. 

‘It’s being outside again that makes you feel like this.’ He told himself. All those thoughts leave him as he enters the clearing, seeing Kris laying there. He grins at the man, who was pretending to sleep, and sits down next to him, facing forward. 

“Sorry.” He says as he stared at the forest. The trees rustle by the force of the wind, but Kyungsoo wasn’t bothered by it. The sound was soothing, and Kris exuded more than enough heat to keep him warm.

“Hmm.” The other opened his eyes, and Kyungsoo could feel those eyes roaming his back. “For what?” 

“For not being coming back for 3 weeks. I told you that I’d be back in less than a week, and I take my promises seriously.”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine. I’m perfectly fine on my own.” He sat up, arm brushing Kyungsoo’s shoulder and Kyungsoo forgot just how big this man was as Kris leaned closer to him. “Besides, you might not have been back, but you’ve been in contact anyway.”

Kyungsoo made an affirmative noise in his throat, because he did. Ever since he found out he could reach out to Kris with his magic, he had been doing it non-stop. During his classes, he was more focused on pouring magic into the earth. During his training, he was feeling around in the warmth in his magic. When he laid in bed, he and Kris would exchange life forces for hours to an end, and Kyungsoo wondered if this is what friendship was like.

“Thank you, for staying.” Kyungsoo muttered, absentmindedly, enjoying basking in the warmth that was way more intense when sitting next to the man. 

Kris chuckled. “I don’t see why you’re thanking me. I should be thanking you, seeing as you’re allowing me to stay here, even though you aren’t allowed to.”

Kyungsoo lets his eye flutter to the other, only to find him staring back. 

“You’re eyes are the same colour as your scales.” Kyungsoo says instead because he couldn’t say anything to that. Honestly, Kyungsoo isn’t even 100% certain himself why he let the other stay. “It’s really pretty.”

“You mean my eyes or my scales?” Kris blinks, not even a bit thrown off by the question, and Kyungsoo pouts a bit about it. 

“Both, really. It shifts between green and red, it’s really fascinating to watch. Not that I saw much of your scales except when trying to get us both to not drown, but still.”

The creature smiled at him, and Kyungsoo feels the same warmth he has been feeling the past 2 weeks curling inside of him, making him curl his fingers, basking in the October sun, even though he knew the heat he felt didn’t come from it. “Thank you. For saving my life, and for your compliments.” And Kyungsoo stares, is aware of staring even, but is unable to look away. So many questions go around in his head, yet he’s too afraid to ask. He didn’t want to ruin their meeting, because who knows how long he’ll be gone next time.

“You can ask, I’m sure you have many.” Kris leans back on the ground, and Kyungsoo turns around while staying seated, his legs pressing against Kris’ side, who had his arms behind his head. This way, he could still look at Kris when he’s talking.

“How did you know a witch?” Kyungsoo asks eventually, because from what he had gathered from the coven’s library, witches lived far away from any other society, not interacting with any creatures or humans. 

“Her name was Ariana and we actually didn’t like each other. I once accidentally walked into her on the street, her magic reacted pretty aggressively to that. Luckily it had been when no one was around, otherwise she would’ve been sent to the stake immediately. From what I’ve heard, she got burned 3 years ago. Nördlingen has been sending a lot of people to the stake, suspecting them to be witches, whether they are or not.” His lips pursed. “No one makes it out alive from the stake, and its a phenomenon that has been going on in Europe for the last decade.”

“But… Why?” He didn’t understand. Why would they kill witches? Witches lived away from human kind, afraid to hurt them. They wouldn’t try to hurt them, their whole morality is based around pureness and kindness, even if they were strict with their kind. 

“Humans,” Kris looked at him. “Are afraid of what they don’t know. Afraid of what they can’t have. And no matter if the forces are friendly or not, they will do everything in their power to snuff it out. Even if that means killing other humans, or killing friendly creatures who mean no harm.” 

Kyungsoo swallowed. “You sound as if you experienced it first hand.” 

“I did.” Kris confessed. “I’m from what they now call the Americas. A few years ago, British troops were send to find China but instead found us, and they claimed everything. Slaughtered the people who where already living there, who owned the land, and spared little. I was forced to flee, abandon my home.” 

They sat there in silence, and Kyungsoo felt dread. What would happen if humans found out about them? Would his family burn at the stake? Would he?

“Not all of them are like this though.” The creature whispers, and Kyungsoo felt long fingers curls around his small ones. “There are good people out there, just like how there are bad witches out there. No one deserves slaughter, so instead of killing everyone I just left.” Kris leans closer to him. “I left behind my home for the greed of humanity, but as a creature able to hear their prayers, I could never condemn anyone to death, wouldn’t condemn their loved ones to grief.” He snorts bitterly. “Maybe I’m just weak.” His smile turns softer as he regards Kyungsoo. “But I guess that’s just who I am. So please, don’t do anything rash. Its not the first time I accidentally turn people to commit mass murder, and I rather not ever again. Also, my real name if Yifan, if you want to call me that.” Kyungsoo nodded, because really, Kris, or Yifan, had the ability to render him speechless. As they sat there in silence, Kyungsoo felt the dread fester and grow, swallowing him whole, even as he felt the casual warmth Kris emitted comforted him like a steady buzz in the back of his head, fighting against the cold. Neither won, and they settled in him until he felt conflictedly out of place. For the first time in his life, he felt like he could never be content with how things were playing out in his mind.

He just hoped he ended up being wrong.


	4. Bathroom Panics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyungsoo wonders if his forced virginity is what makes Fate sent him naked men that look like they were sculptures of Greek Gods. Like she's trying to show him what he's missing out on, taunting him with something he could never have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's a small chapter, I know.

Kyungsoo shrieks as flames burst out next to him, licking against his cheek, before he jumps to the side, tripping over the frame of the bath. Water splashed around him as he falls inside butt first, and the water hitting the fire turned into steam immediately, even as the flames started taking shape. All he could do was stare as the shape was humanoid, flames going from see-through red to flushed flesh, until a man of unknown nature stood in the middle of the bathhouse, looking around curiously. Naked. Kyungsoo briefly wondered what fate had with sending him naked men out of the blue, until he realized he was naked too, and he flushed as covered himself with his hands and arms.

“W-who are you?” Kyungsoo stutters out, and the man turned to look at him, eyes roaming over his body as he didn’t even tried to shield his nakedness from Kyungsoo’s eyes, and Kyungsoo couldn’t help but let his mind compare him to Kris. Their physique was a lot alike, both at least a head taller than Kyungsoo, well defined muscles, broad shoulders and large hands. Although Kris' skin was darker than this man, formed from the years he spent in the sunny Americas and the bright almost fluorescent red hair the man was sporting was very different from Kris’ longer white-blond hair.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Now that Kyungsoo could focus a bit more, knowing if the man wanted to attack him he already had, he cautiously watched his face. Unlike Kris’, his face showed what he was feeling easily, round eyes expressing everything on his mind, and all Kyungsoo could read was confusing and curiosity. 

“You appeared out of nowhere in my bathhouse. I’d like to know who you are and how you even got in here.” Kyungsoo also wanted to stand up, but he didn’t really want to show his own nakedness, even if the stranger obviously had no problem with standing there naked, giving Kyungsoo a clear view of _everything_.

“Why did you summon me here then?” The red hair slid over his forehead as he tilted his head to the side, and Kyungsoo was strangely reminded of the curious wolfs he sometimes visited in the woods.

“I- Summon?” Kyungsoo was so confused. “You’re a demon?” He questioned. It would make sense. Except it absolutely fucking didn’t.

The demon looked at him in confused surprise. “You mean to tell me you didn’t summon me?”

Kyungsoo stared at the other for a while, who was looking more and more impressed. “No, I most definitely didn’t. Fuck,” Kyungsoo puts his hands in his hair, bending forward tensely, “If the coven finds out I let in a demon, even though I didn’t, they will skin me alive.” He mutters.

“Well,” The demon rubs at the nape of his neck, looking slightly embarrassed, “If it’s any consolation, to summon a daemon accidentally takes a lot of willpower, to the point it's almost impossible. So you’re really strong.”

Kyungsoo groans as he presses the heel of his hands harder against his closed eyes. “That’s the last thing I wanted to be.” He says, and he feels almost in pain at being once again reminded that he is special, stronger. Letting his hands drop, he lets his head fall backward, eyes tracing the lines on the ceiling. It’s warm, warmer than it should be, and Kyungsoo suspects that it’s the stranger. He came from the fire, after all. It felt a lot like when Kris let his force mingle with him, spreading from his chest, a tingle in the pit of his stomach until he’s melted and comfortable. Even now, even when it’s not Kris’ warmth, it comforts him, to the point he doesn’t mind the fact that there is a total stranger observing his nakedness, nor does it bother him that that stranger is a demon.

“Who are you.” Kyungsoo asks again, tilting his head slightly to look at the stranger. 

The stranger seated himself at the edge of the bath, in front of Kyungsoo, and Kyungsoo looks at the other's chest before dropping down, only to fluster and fixate his eyes on the other's face. His blush spreads to his neck and shoulders as he notices the other already watching him, eyes crinkling from the toothy smirk he was wearing.

“I’m Chanyeol.” He says when Kyungsoo looks him in the eyes, and Kyungsoo could see amusement linger on his face. “I’m a demon and you summoned me.”

Kyungsoo sniffs. “I’m Kyungsoo and I most definitely didn’t on purpose.” The stranger, Chanyeol, chuckled.

“No, you just want something so bad while going to bathe you managed to summon me anyways.” 

Kyungsoo blinks at that. “I’m the heir of my coven.” He says. “I would never want sex so much to condemn my whole tribe into extinction.” Chanyeol just stares at him. And Kyungsoo understands. As heir, he is branded to be humanoid pureness. The fact he managed to summon a demon accidentally, showed he most certainly was not. “I… Recently became aware of the witch hunts.” He hunches his shoulders as he says it. He hadn’t told Kris, but he knew the other knew his internal struggles. His kind was dying out, and there was nothing he could do about it without being burned on the stake. “I’ve been trying to figure out a way to stop them, but I’m just one man, and there is nothing I could do. Were I to go out to save them, I’d be struck down along them for treachery, and I can’t leave the forest without taking down the enchantments around it with me, so not only would it be a suicide mission, but I’d also kill my coven.”

“So,” Chanyeol suddenly looked so serious, and Kyungsoo wondered if he looked like that a lot. It seemed lined with amusement and tinge of admiration, even if he wasn’t in any way judging him. “You want to be a martyr for your kind to save them from extinction.” 

Kyungsoo breath hitched, and he reached out his magic for Kris. He could see Chanyeol’s hand twitch from the corner of his eyes, and he wondered if he felt his magic travel away from him. “Yes.”

Chanyeol hummed. “Well, humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain what you want, something of equal value must be lost. This is done through a Daemon contract.” Kyungsoo nodded hesitantly but relaxed even further when he felt Kris warmth resonate back at him. Chanyeol blinks, fingers twitching again. “Usually, the only thing of equal value that can be given is the soul, but sometimes there are exceptions. For example, you have magic, and you could trade that in return.” 

Kyungsoo looked at the water and thought about it. He could save witch-kind, but he’d either die or lose his magic forever. Either meant he would never again feel the energy nature gave him, would never feel the trees try to communicate with him, would never feel the warmth that Kris gave him.

“I…” Kyungsoo swallows around the lump in his throat. “I don’t think I’d be willing to part with either.” He whispers, afraid. He summoned a demon, and now he was rejecting what he essentially lived from. Kyungsoo felt bad. “Can I… Think about it?” He asks the other, who was still smiling at him.

“Sure. How about I come back next week. Do you think that that's enough time?” Kyungsoo nodded slowly, and the demon sent him another smile before he suddenly burst out in flames. Kyungsoo wanted to lurch backward, but none of the flames even came near enough to though his. Now that he thinks about it, when it first appeared, it had definitely touched him, but as he touches the skin of his cheek it wasn’t burned. He just felt comfortably warm. The fire went out and took along the heat. Kyungsoo shivered and got out of the water that had felt so comfortable until now, and decided he’d wash up tomorrow. For now, he thinks he deserved sleep, curled up in Kris’ heat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one left!


	5. The Little Letters In The Contract

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyungsoo hadn't expected them to get along, especially when he was planning on giving something he didn't think he'd ever be allowed to give away.

Kyungsoo wonders what he did to deserve this, as he watches Chanyeol and Kris stare at each other. He had been walking in the forest with Kris when suddenly Chanyeol appeared in flames. Kris had watched with wide eyes, clearly alarmed and not knowing what to do, blinking rapidly when the flames turned into a man. A naked man. Again. Kyungsoo breathes in hard through his nose as warmth hit him again, tripling the feeling he had already been getting from Kris, and he felt momentarily disconnected from reality. Kris seemed to have noticed it if the hand on the small of his back said anything.

“Ah, did I come at an inappropriate time?”

Snapping back to real life, Kyungsoo snorts. “It’s always inappropriate if you turn up naked. Don’t tell me you do always do that.”

“Eh, no. Usually, I come through the summoning portal. But, yeah. I don’t have one here.” He rubs at his nape again, and Kyungsoo wonders if that’s a nervous tic, and can’t help but find it really cute. He relaxes against Kris’ hand.

“Hello,” Kris says. “I’m Kris.” He doesn’t move closer to the demon, but Kyungsoo could basically see the friendly smile he has on his lips. He resists looking back just to catch a glimpse of it, leaning closer to Kris instead. “If you want, my place isn’t far from here, and I’m sure you’ll fit in some of my clothes for the time being.” Kyungsoo blinks as Chanyeol smiled shyly, and he wondered if he had been wrong in thinking Chanyeol was completely at ease being naked. Kris leads them to the cave he had found and placed his things in, a small mattress with a blanket plus a chest with some stuff in, like clothing. Kyungsoo sat down on the mattress, ignoring them, and he could still feel the warmth that had settled inside of it as it had seeped Kris’ heat from his days spent in bed. He softly laid himself down, curling up against Kris when he sits himself down after giving Chanyeol some loose pants and simple undershirt, and Kyungsoo could still see the shape of his muscles as it stretched across his chest. He simply stared at the demon as he and Kris converse about nothing special, seemingly getting along like a house on fire. At least he thinks it’s nothing special because he’s really not listening at all. Kris’ hand going through his hair, surrounded completely in warmth, made him basically liquefy into the mattress, and it was hard to focus on anything else.

Before he could fall asleep completely, he sat back up. Chanyeol was here for a reason, and he should make his choice here, rather than let him come back again, this time surrounded by elders or tribe members. That wouldn’t do.

“Could you tell me more about the contract?” Kyungsoo asked softly, and he could basically feel Kris coo at him, even if his face didn’t show. In the time that Kyungsoo knows Kris’, he’s come to learn that the older was extremely affectionate and thought Kyungsoo was cute. At least, he can’t stop mentioning that the things Kyungsoo does are cute, so Kyungsoo just things Kris’ thinks he’s cute.

“Sure,” Chanyeol said, snapping Kyungsoo from his thoughts. “As I told you, there are different options for this. You can ask for anything, as long as the thing you give in return is of equal value. Most people tend to give their souls, having nothing else to give. But, like yourself, you have other things to give, like your magic. As long as it’s something that just means just as much to you as the thing you desire, you can exchange it. It can be a physical thing, so buying your way out is possible, although I don’t think you put much value in money. It can be something that isn’t physical, like a position of power, your soul, magic. Giving your soul…” Chanyeol seemed to hesitate, unsure how to put it into words. “A body cannot live without a soul, it will simply die after a while. If you don’t give your soul however, what can happen is that it will be corrupted by the daemon taint, leading from general violence to mass murder. However, a very small percentage is able to resist the taint. Well, more like your soul neutralizes the taint by rearranges the very foundation of the soul. You’ll be the same as you were before, mentally, but your body will have gone through some things. It wouldn’t be human anymore, neither a daemon. We call them berserkers.” Chanyeol finished.

“If I were to overcome the taint,” Kyungsoo asks tentatively, “Would I still have my magic?”

“If it isn’t magic you offer for your contract and if you manage to become a berserker, than statistically speaking you should still have your magic. There aren’t many berserkers, but from what little we know of them is that they just get an… extra, on top of what they already had.” Chanyeol answers. He looks thoughtfully for a second before he grins. “If anyone could become a berserker, it would definitely be you.”

Kyungsoo nodded, hesitantly, daring to glance at Kris’, who was looking at him. As their eyes meet, Kyungsoo relaxes completely, seeing no judgment, only simple acceptance. Kyungsoo looks back at Chanyeol, who stares at them curiously, head tilted and leaning back slightly. “You said that I could also offer a position of power?” Kyungsoo mentioned.

Chanyeol looks at him I surprise and he heard Kris hum at his side.

“You want to give up your position as heir of your coven.” Kris guesses. “You do know what that would mean, right? You could lose your home as I did.”

Kyungsoo nods. Being heir of the clan was something sacred. In covens, interacting (never mind making a contract) with demons is highly forbidden, ending in exile. As heir of the tribe, however, he’d condemn his coven to a leaderless future, forever. Once an heir, always an heir, and there can’t be a new heir unless the last heir dies or becomes the leader. That means that there was a possibility that he’d leave his tribe to die out. A coven survives of its leader's power and without them, the magic simply dies. They’d live, but they would lose their magic.

“Yes, but if we’re talking about the magic of my coven or about the lives of the whole of witch-kind, the choice seems like a simple matter.” Kyungsoo smiles softly at Kris. “Besides, you’re my home anyway.” Kris looked taken aback at that, but positively, so Kyungsoo dares to look away as Chanyeol clears his throat in amusement.

“Does that mean you’ll go with the contract?”

Kyungsoo breathes in deep. This was his last chance to change his mind. Risk his life, risk his coven or risk his whole kind. “I will trade my position as heir and in return, you will save my kind. However, I request this to be done in peace. I don’t want to kind to do for another. Simply let the killing stop.”

Chanyeol smiles softly at him. “So it’ll be. One more thing I need to know. If you’re giving away your position, then you need to give me something that will make you lose your position.”

“So…” Kyungsoo hesitates. “You mean my virginity?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> du du duuuuuuu. Sorry for the massive cliffhanger, but don't worry! You'll get to know what happened during HOME ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously, the lake isn't real, but the actual places mentioned are. The story is situated around end 16th century to mid 17th century in Germany during the Witch Hunts and during the colonization of America.


End file.
